Author Archives: Emily

Oreo Crunch And Apple Brandy

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This past weekend I took my last trip to New York — last because I am officially moving in 2.5 weeks!!!  This move is super bittersweet – I am over the moon to get to live with Adam and Webster and I love NYC but I am really going to miss Charlottesville, and my family here, and my amazing job.  I’ll have to really soak in the South the next two weeks!

Our New York weekend was fantastic as always.  We had babka and creme brulee doughnuts and walked all over the place.  Saturday we met friends in Williamsburg for a walk over the bridge and an afternoon in the city.

Highlights include…

Milk Bar‘s Thanksgiving Croissant.  It’s stuffed with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.

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Drinks at Serra by Bierria.  We tried four things from the holiday cocktail list – a buttered rum, a walnut Manhattan, a gin and blood orange drink, and an apple brandy drink.

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Caffe Panna.  I had peanut butter oreo crunch with fudge sauce!  Also Adam got an affagato and I drank his last sip of espresso and it was genuinely the very best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.

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Thankful For Nachos

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Do I have zero chill?  Yes.  And did I fully lean in to all things holiday/Thanksgiving flavored in the second week of November?  Also yes.  I couldn’t help myself, I was ready for cranberry and eggnog and cozy cheer!

Holiday highlights from this week include…

Eggnog in my coffee!

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Cranberry seltzer.

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Pumpkin pie marshmallows.

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Thanksgiving nachos.  Trader Joe’s turkey and stuffing kettle chips / swiss and gruyere cheese / turkey andouille sausage / roasted green beans / poblano peppers / cranberry sauce.

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Thanksgiving totchos.  Tots / swiss and gruyere / poblano peppers / green onion / brussel sprouts / cranberry sauce.

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Upcoming highlights?  I am heading to New York this afternoon to visit Milk Bar’s Thanksgiving croissants my loving husband and dog.

Pumpkin Oolong

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Cold weather fully hit Charlottesville this weekend so I kept things pretty low-key.  I did talk a walk around the neighborhood to stretch my legs on Saturday but then I spent the rest of the night huddled under the covers!

Amazingly, my food highlights from the weekend were not soup and hot chocolate…

Still loving plain Greek yogurt bowls with cupcake almond butter, MadeGood granola, and loads of fresh berries.

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I also enjoyed a bowl with this new Chobani flavor, caramel mocha.

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Whole Foods hot bar with a side of journal reading.  Best bites were the popcorn chicken and Spanish-style brussel sprout salad with sherry vinegar and yellow raisins.

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Pumpkin oolong milk tea(!) with boba and Oreo.

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I made the best sheet-pan hash.  Preheat the oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit / prep a sheet pan with foil and baking spray / bake chopped Japanese sweet potato for 20 minutes / add chopped bok choy and green onion and bake another 25 minutes / top with smoked salmon candy / add kewpie mayo and Sriracha if desired.

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Candy break.

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Bunnies And Bears

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My Ohio trip was absolutely perfect! My grandma had a great 90th birthday and it was fantastic to spend time with my family!

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Highlights from the week back home include…

La Colombe caramel oatmilk draft latte.

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Adorable elderberry Wild Kombucha with adorable Trader Joe’s tiny gummi bears.

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I had the best yogurt bowl toppings – Made Good Cocoa Crunch granola and Noosh cupcake almond butter.

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So I made the best yogurt bowls!  Plan Greek with almond butter, granola, and blackberries and blueberries.

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A friend and I met up at Hardywood to celebrate the release of Gingerbread Stout and discovered their newest beer – Christmas Pancakes, aka GBS with maple syrup!

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Cafe Con Leche, Cerveza Con Calabaza

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Adam came to visit me last weekend, aka I had the best weekend ever!  He probably won’t be back in Virginia until my cousin’s wedding next year so we made the most of the visit.  We went to several old favorites and couple new favorites!

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Weekend highlights include…

Saturday was National Pumpkin Day and Tropical Smoothie Cafe sent me a free coupon to try their Pumpkin Pie Smoothie to celebrate.  Made with real pumpkin, Ghirardelli white chocolate, cinnamon, and non-fat yogurt.  It was very pumpkiny without being boring and just sweet enough.

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Drekker‘s Everybody Love Everybody is a rainbow sherbet sour and it’s PINK!

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Hardywood had a Halloween-themed black IPA on tap – the Heebie Jeebies!  Plus I had a None of This Makes Sense double IPA (my current favorite beer) and a soft prezel with cheese sauce.

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Gaujiros Miami Eatery is Charlottesville’s new Cuban spot and it is damn good!  I had eggs with beans and rice plus fried cheese.

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Plus a Cortadito that was so delicious I went back again the next day for another one!

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Quality Pie.  We split a Spanish Tortilla.

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And I had (super buttery, garlicy) foccacia with egg and cheese.

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Dinner at Comal with my cousin and her fiance.  I didn’t snap any photos but we had an absolutely amazing meal at this new Oaxacan spot in Belmont.

P.S. No more posts coming from me this week.  Tomorrow morning I’m on my way to Ohio to celebrate my grandma’s 90th birthday!

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Apple Pumpkin Chia Chocolate

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The eight best things I ate this week –

(1) Chobani pumpkin and spice yogurt with (2) pecan butter and (3) a Lady Alice apple.

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(4) Siggi’s pumpkin and spice yogurt with (5) chocolate sunflower seed butter.  <– the sunbutter was the best thing of the week!

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(6) Vanilla chia pudding and (7) a SnapDragon apple.

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It was a (8) sandwich week for dinner.  Whole-wheat brioche buns with Kewpie mayo, smoked turkey, and Whole Foods’ plant-based smoked gouda.

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Pumpkin King

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It rained all day Sunday but luckily Saturday was beautiful.  One of my coworkers invited me to the UVA-Duke game and we had a wonderful time (bookended by stops at local breweries!).

Five food highlights include…

This cold brew from La Colombe is so velvety! (fyi, the stuff in the cup has half and half mixed in)

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Trader Joe’s pumpkin yogurt with vanilla peanut butter.

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I saved my two favorite pumpkin beers for last.  I typically don’t drink imperial ales but Pumking is the best.

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Crispy carrot sticks.

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Waffle flavored chicken nuggets(!!!) with roasted green beans and honey mustard.

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